Honda Civic 2008 review

Toyota has trumped that by coming up with a car that everybody gets to pay for, even if they don't want it.

European carmakers, whose fuel efficiency is measured by each model, bitterly refer to Prius as a case of `greenwashing'; relentless promotion of a single eco-friendly model to obscure the relative unfriendliness of the wider model range. It certainly suckered our Prime Minister, who fell over himself to give Toyota $35 million to build a token 10,000 hybrid Camrys at Altona, which Toyota was going to build anyway.

Still, it could be worse. You could be a Victorian. They've stumped up another $35 million in tribute to Toyota. If it ain't easy being green, being seen to be so is certainly expensive. This has also obscured some highly pertinent rivals, not the least of which is the car you see pictured on this page, one that also uses petrol/electric propulsion.

We were keen to re-try Honda's Civic Hybrid given a bunch of the Toyotas are used in News Limited’s company fleet. The drivers reckon they're averaging five litres per 100km; worse than Toyota's claimed 4.4L, but exceptional in any of our capital cities where traffic flow is approaching permanent gridlock. Resembling a prop rejected from The Jetsons as too silly-looking, it's eco-self-consciousness in the extreme. Which is why the likes of me tend to call it the `Pious'.

The antidote, we thought, might be the Honda — a car that despite being five grand cheaper than the least-expensive Prius has inspired almost no notice since its introduction two years ago. Yet recently it made a list of Australia's 10 most fuel frugal cars, the best of which was the Fiat 500 diesel. That lack of attention is due in no small part to the fact that Honda's Civic Hybrid looks entirely normal.

Styling

Aside from the discreet badging and low-wind-resistance wheels, it could be ... well, any Civic. So, while Honda's next generation hybrid gambit (a circa $25k-priced five-door that could make it here as early as 2011) is more distinctive, the Civic is not a visual statement for the greener-than-thou. Rather, it's pleasingly anonymous. That sense of anonymity holds within. Whereas in Prius the state of the electric battery's charge is conveyed by a lurid, psychedelic light-show display, the Civic tells all you need to know via a simple (and non-distracting) gauge on the dashboard.

And as with the standard issue Civic, this dash is something of a modern design classic, with that prominent digital speedo that's always within the lower part of the driver's field of vision.

This is indeed a welcome fixture these days, when you need to drive with eyes glued to your instruments rather than the road if you want to retain your licence. And there is actually a passable chance of speed infractions occurring in a Civic Hybrid.

Engine

It's driven by an 85kW 1.3-litre four cylinder teamed with an electric motor that produces combined torque of 170Nm. Although both Civic and Prius have electric motors that recharge as brakes are applied, below 40km/h or so, Prius hums along on voltage alone.

While the Civic's engine cuts once you're halted, it re-engages with a lurch and a thunk when the go pedal is pressed. So while Prius uses the petrol engine to assist electric propulsion, the opposite is true of the Civic. In essence the Honda gets off the line and generally handles like its Civic siblings as opposed to the dynamic bowl of custard that is the Prius.

Economy

But — and it's a big but given the hybrid's raison d'etre — the Honda's mode of propulsion results in greater cost at the pump. Honda claims 4.6 litres per 100km. Sorry, but even with a feather touch on the pedal we could manage no better than 6.8 litres per 100km and worse in heavy traffic.

Audi's newest A3 hatch, the 1.9TDIe, has achieved extraordinarily low figures: sub-four litres per 100km (in the contrived circumstances of economy runs), and in our testing was even better than the Civic in the city by up to a litre. It is better than both hybrids on the open road.

Overall

Still, the Civic Hybrid's return is far from poor for a small-medium car that can carry a family. But most of the population is city-bound and forced to drive by a public transport system that is diminishing in proportion to the increasing population.

It is urban consumption figures that count and by that measure the Civic Hybrid doesn't quite deliver like its humming rival. But at least you don't have to pay for it if you don't want it.

The bottom line

Don't believe all the hybrid hype.